Look After You
by Glitterycake
Summary: A continuation of the ending of episode 2.09, 'There Might Be Blood'. Fluffy Chuck/Blair ficlet.


_Author's Notes:_I don't own _Gossip Girl_. This one-shot is complete and I will not be adding to it. It takes place at the end of 2.09 'There Might Be Blood', and rewrites an existing scene from that episode slightly.

**Look After You**

Chuck waited for Blair in the lobby of Emma's apartment building. He could see her, arguing with Emma's back, until the younger girl abruptly turned around and asked Blair something, a pensive and curious look on her face. Blair's back was to Chuck, so he had absolutely no idea what was being said – or what Blair's response was. He saw Emma's face brighten at what Blair had told her, though. Emma reached up for a hug from Blair, and Chuck smiled automatically when Blair leaned down to hug her wayward, yet misunderstood, baby-sitting charge back.

"Blair, thanks for – just thanks," Emma whispered into Blair's ear.

"You'll know when it's right. And who's right for you," Blair whispered back.

"Did you know that that Chuck Bass guy is staring right at us?" Emma asked Blair.

"He is?" Blair wondered. "I thought he was staying in the limo."

"He's looking at you, Blair," Emma continued. "Is he the guy you – "

Blair looked down at the floor. "Is it that obvious?" Emma looked at her apologetically.

"It's not that hard to work out. For one, you guys were staring each other out during that limo ride. Why aren't you two together now?" Blair smiled softly down at Emma.

"Emma, even though you might be right for each other, it doesn't always necessarily turn out that you're right for each other right now."

"Well, the way he's staring at you, he obviously thinks differently!" Emma argued. Blair nodded.

"It's just a matter of time. I hope. Look after yourself, Emma, okay?"

"You too, Blair. Thank you for tonight. I learned – I learned a lot from you. And I'm going to stand up to my mom and tell her that the way she ignores me isn't fair."

"I'm not baby-sitting you ever again, you realise that, right?" Blair asked her. "You're a total handful."

"I shouldn't need a baby-sitter. What I _need_ is a mother."

"Don't we all," Blair sighed, giving the girl another hug and walking away.

"Well, all things considered, I think my plan was a success," Chuck said as Blair walked back towards him. "Do you need a ride home?"

"I'd like that," she replied. They left the apartment building and Chuck held the door of the limo open for Blair, climbing in after her. They sat in silence, set slightly apart from one another. Here they were again, sitting in the back of this infamous limo, the distance more unbridgeable than ever. She wasn't going to close the distance between them with a kiss like she had the last time.

"Chuck?" Blair spoke aloud into the semi-darkness, startling him slightly.

"Yes?"

"I know that you're over talking about the mess we made of our fledgling relationship, but – I have some things to say, and I need to say them. I need you to not interrupt me or berate me for talking too much. I need you to listen to me."

"Okay," Chuck replied. Blair clasped her hands together in her lap, shifting uncomfortably.

"When you left me on that helipad, I'd never felt more humiliated in my life. I felt as though you really didn't care about me or about us. Mostly I wondered why everything had changed so quickly. I didn't know whether you'd decided you didn't want me after all, or you'd found someone else... but I found the Lord formerly known as James, and I tried to start something with him so that you would feel as awful as I did. I found it bitterly funny that after telling me how Nate's never been there for me and everything like that, you basically turned out to be exactly like him. All I wanted was for us to start over, and you couldn't even do that."

"Blair, I don't know how many times I can apologise for those things – "

"I wish you didn't create situations in which there existed a need for you to apologise to me, Chuck."

"I wish I didn't either."

"I found myself wondering if you even wanted me anymore."

Chuck was stunned. "How could you even think that?" he demanded.

"You told me so yourself. Remember? 'I don't want you anymore, and I can't see why anyone else would'?" she answered, laughing bitterly.

"Blair, I apologised for that and you should know by now that I never, ever meant those words. Look, either you forgive me for what I've done, or – "

"Or what?"

"You have my permission to move on, Blair. If that's what you want, just tell me."

"That's not what I want. I want you."

"And in what effed-up, strange, unknown universe do you think for even a tiny little second that I don't want you, Blair?" Chuck raged quietly. "You know that I do. I tell you as much. What the hell is it going to take for you to believe me? Please don't tell me that I don't hold you like I want you, and if you tell me that I don't kiss you like I want you, I'll either throw myself or you out of this moving vehicle – I haven't decided which yet. Perhaps I'll throw both of us out of it."

"So what do we do here, Chuck? If we want each other just as much, why can't we just finally get it together? Why can't we just be together?" Blair questioned him, her voice carrying a note of exasperation.

"Because you know that's not us! I said it last week: Chuck and Blair, going to the movies; Chuck and Blair, holding hands. That's not us. Well, it's certainly not _me_, anyway!"

"I said that we didn't have to do those things. We can just do the things we like," Blair reminded him, protest in her tone, "And like you would have any idea if holding hands or going to the movies is us!"

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Chuck demanded, sitting bolt upright in his seat, glaring at Blair.

"It means that there _is_ no us, Chuck! There's no us to speak of! We are not even a couple! How do we know for certain if going to the movies or holding hands is or is not _us_? It's not like you're giving_ us _even the slightest chance of happening!" Blair ranted at him, jabbing him in the chest with a long red nail. "You're just dismissing it out of hand because it's not what _you're_ used to!"

"I'm dismissing it because it's what _you're_ used to!" Chuck snapped back.

"This mysterious _us_ doesn't even exist!" Blair shouted at him, "_You_ won't let it!"

"I've officially had a preview of what it would be like, and all I see is debris and carnage! See, this is why I told you that we should wait. We're not ready for this."

"Oh, you're wrong there, Chuck. You're wrong. It's _you_ that isn't ready for this, and as for me? I can't wait any longer. I want you _now_! Why can't I just have you now? Why do I have to wait?"

"I never said you had to wait for me, Blair," Chuck responded.

Blair whacked him with her hand.

"Ow!" Chuck exclaimed. "What was that for?!"

"You Basshole! Of course I'm going to wait! I won't wait forever, but I'll wait... for a little while."

"You don't have to," Chuck replied. "Really."

"Driver!" Blair yelled through the protective screen separating them and Arthur, the Bass's chauffeur.

"Yes, miss?"

"Let us out here, please. Wait here, though."

"Excuse me, Waldorf, but who said you could tell my driver where to go?"

"_I_ said so, and your driver's obviously smart enough to realise that if I don't get what I want, he's not going to like what happens next. As for _you_," she snapped, yanking at Chuck's arm, pulling him out of the limo, "you're coming with me, and we're going to start something right here, right now. It's going to be really simple. Now, I strongly suggest you haul ass. _Move it_!"

Chuck, though he was grumbling the entire time, complied with her wishes, partly because she really was terrifying when she was angry, and mostly because being dominated by Blair Waldorf was starting to become a massive turn-on.

He stumbled to a stop on the sidewalk, trying to orient himself with the scenery and freezing his ass off. "Excellent, Blair. You've hauled us out into the middle of nowhere. I hope you have a rape whistle, because this doesn't look like too nice a part of town."

"I'm trusting you to look after me," Blair replied softly, shivering in her skirt, her legs bare and her feet in toweringly tall heels. The crisp New York night fluttered a chilly breeze in their direction, and without even having to think about it, Chuck took off his sweater and put it on Blair, on whom it did not fit at all well, pooling around her shoulders and reaching down almost to her knees.

"I'd say you look good in my sweater, but I know you hate being lied to," Chuck said to her, smirking slightly.

"Chuck," Blair said, her teeth chattering slightly.

"Do _not_ tell me you want me to give you my blazer, too," he replied warningly. "It's effing freezing out here."

"I would really like you to hold my hand," Blair said shyly, gazing up at him, tugging at her newly acquired sweater and adjusting it so that it covered her bare shoulders. Chuck reached across and set it in place for her, letting his hand slide down the arm of the borrowed pullover until his hand touched hers. He spread his fingers out, waiting to feel Blair's own fingers sliding between, finding their position and placement. Her hand slipped into position easily, their fingers entwining.

"See how simple it is?" Blair whispered, edging closer to him. "Chuck and Blair, holding hands."

"It is," Chuck replied simply, holding her hand tighter as they froze and shivered together. "Walk with me?"

"I'd love to," Blair answered, falling into step beside him.

"Where do you want to go?" Chuck asked her, looking at her sideways.

"With you," Blair said softly, snuggling up closer to Chuck as they walked along the New York street.

"Do you know where we are?" Chuck wondered aloud.

"I know where I am. I'm right where I want to be," she replied. Chuck stopped walking when she said this.

"Are you kidding? You actually want to be walking after midnight on the freezing streets of Manhattan, shivering your ass off, tottering along on three-inch high heels – "

He didn't get a chance to complete his sentence, because Blair turned towards him, stepped up closer to him, and reached out to touch his face, pulling him in closer before she slipped her warm mouth over his. His eyes closed of their own accord as his free arm slipped around her waist, drawing her so close that he could feel her heart racing to match his own.

When they parted from the kiss, Blair looked up at him, her expression slightly hard. Chuck couldn't hide his anxious gulp when Blair glared at him.

"For your information, these are _four_ inches, Bass," Blair retorted. Chuck was so relieved he burst out laughing, right there in the middle of the street, the night silent around them. Blair's hand slipped from his.

"What's so funny?" Blair demanded.

"You just kill me, Waldorf. In the best way. God help us all."

"What do you mean?" Blair asked.

"Let's keep walking," Chuck said, taking her hand again, leading her up the street, until he stopped abruptly in front of a building he did not expect to see.

A twenty-four–hour movie theatre, playing the classics.

"Blair, you have got to be kidding. It's midnight. We're tired. The movies? _Now_? Really?"

"Chuck and Blair, going to the movies," she reminded him, her voice carrying a note that warned Chuck that she was not to be argued with.

"You know exactly where you are, don't you?" Chuck asked her. Blair nodded.

"Before he left, my dad used to bring me here to watch old movies. He always liked the Audrey Hepburn films – well, I guess he liked them a _little_ too much – but it was our ritual to come here at least once a month, just to escape into the world of a classic movie and forget about real life for a while."

"What's playing?" Chuck questioned.

"It doesn't matter. Come on," she replied, tugging Chuck along with her. Sighing to himself, he allowed himself to be dragged by the hand...

... Behind a large red curtain.

"I thought this was about Chuck and Blair, going to the movies," Chuck protested, wondering what on earth Blair was doing.

"We're _at_ the movies. Now, I don't know about you, but I've seen all these movies before. And just because we go to the movies doesn't mean we actually go into the theatre and _watch _the movie."

_This girl knows who I am_, Chuck thought to himself.

"Like I said," Blair told him, "we can do the things that we like."

"And what do we like?" Chuck asked her, knowing the answer already.

"This," Blair replied, before she reached up to kiss him. "And this," she continued, unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt, "And most of all, _you_ like this," she said, slipping her hand into the front of his pants, her fingers reaching down. Chuck inhaled sharply, aching for her to keep going, but she abruptly drew her hand out from under his waistband.

"Blair!" Chuck half-shouted in protest, "That's not fair!"

"Nor is it fair for us _not_ to be together," Blair shot back. "That's only a little preview of what you and I _could_ become. It's up to you, though. Everything is your choice. Now, straighten yourself up, take my hand, and walk me back to your limo."

"Yes, ma'am," Chuck replied weakly, obliging her.

When they finally reached Blair's penthouse, Blair asked Chuck to walk her up.

"All right," he agreed. "But I can't stay, not tonight."

"I'll only be a minute," Blair replied. "Would you come up to my room with me?"

"Blair, I really can't stay – ", Chuck protested.

"Just come with me, okay?" she said. He followed her up the stairs. She started to go inside her room, but when Chuck attempted to follow her, she pushed him gently back out.

"What gives, Blair?" Chuck demanded.

"Just wait outside while I look for something. I promise it won't take long."

"Okay, but don't be long."

He could hear her rummaging around in her room; the opening and closing of drawers and a muttered "Where the hell did I put it?" Just as he was about to inquire when she'd be out again, she exited her bedroom, clutching his sweater in her small hand.

"Could you look after this for me?" Blair asked him, proffering him his sweater back. Chuck was about to ask her what on earth she meant when a glint of gold caught the light. His breath caught in his throat as he looked at Blair wordlessly and lifted the sleeve to inspect the shiny object glittering there, contrasting with the dark wool of his sweater.

"I'd love to," he whispered.


End file.
